SANTA MONICA – The AFSCME Local 3299 strikers outside of the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center are done picketing for the day as of 1:45 p.m. The picketers had been outside since 6 a.m. and completed their eight-hour shift by 2 p.m., said Maria Torres, a surgical technologist in the Santa Monica surgery center and media representative for the union. The picketers were outside the hospital from 4:30 a.m. to around 6 p.m. yesterday, she added.

“We are always here early, and I’m here very, very late,” Torres said.

The union’s stand will remain up until 4 p.m. today, she added.